Houston fighter not ready to hang up the gloves

By John Whisler :
September 11, 2012
: Updated: September 12, 2012 12:12am

Rocky Juarez (left), who hasn’t won since 2008, is scheduled to fight Antonio Escalante on Oct. 27.

Photo By Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News

El Paso boxer Antonio Escalante before a press conference at Champion Fit Gym, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012. Escalante will fight Houston boxer Rocky Juarez in the main card at the boxing event on Oct. 27 at the Freeman Coliseum.

Photo By Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News

Boxer Rocky Juarez, of Houston, before a press conference at Champion Fit Gym, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012. Juarez will faces off with El Paso boxer Antonio Escalante in the main card on Oct. 27 at the Freeman Coliseum.

Photo By Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News

Leija Battah Promotions' Jesse James Leija (left) and Mike Battah at a press conference introducing boxers Antonio Escalante and Rocky Juarez at Champion Fit Gym, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012. Escalante and Juarez will be the main card at the boxing event on Oct. 27 at the Freeman Coliseum.

A loser of six fights in a row, Rocky Juarez has all but fallen off the boxing map. His career is in free fall.

Yet at 32, he soldiers on.

“I've never been knocked out. I'm not punch drunk, I'm still healthy,” he said. “I still love what I'm doing. I feel like I have a lot left.

“I don't want to go out like this.”

A 2000 Olympic silver medalist and top contender as a professional, Juarez once was the toast of the town in his native Houston.

Now he fights for respect.

His next opportunity is Oct. 27 at Freeman Coliseum, when Juarez (28-10-1, 20 KOs) is scheduled to take on another Texan, Antonio Escalante (29-4, 19 KOs) of El Paso, in a 10-round super featherweight bout.

Juarez has not won since 2008 when he produced a dramatic come-from-behind knockout victory over Jorge Barrios at the Toyota Center in Houston.

That win set up Juarez for another shot at a world title, something that had eluded him in three previous attempts.

But then came a controversial draw against WBA featherweight champ Chris John, followed by a 12-round loss in the rematch.

Since then, the defeats have piled up. The latest was a 10-round loss to 23-year-old Andrew Cancio (14-1-2, 11 KOs) on June 2 in Indio, Calif.

“I thought I was hanging up the gloves after that fight,” said Juarez, who was in town Tuesday along with Escalante to promote the fight. “I lost to a kid who only had 15 fights. But people kept telling me, ‘Man, Rocky, you still got a lot left in you.' When you get that kind of support, you want to continue.”

So here he is, taking on a hungry fighter five years his junior. Juarez has fought many of the premier fighters of his division, including Marco Antonio Barrera (twice) and Juan Manuel Marquez.

His longtime trainer, Ray Ontiveros, said this is it for him if Juarez loses.

“If he wants to continue, it's going to be on his own,” Ontiveros said. “I don't want him walking on his heels. He doesn't need the money.”

Juarez hinted this might be it for him, too.

“Maybe after this fight, if I feel like it's my time to retire, I might hang 'em up,” Juarez said. “I don't want to end on a losing streak. That's not something I'm willing to accept.”